Safe Third Country Agreement Between Canada and the United States

The Safe Third Country Agreement is an agreement between Canada and the United States which ensures that immigrants will not be transferring between countries to avoid laws or improve their living conditions. It was made on the basis of the belief that living in either country is safe and it is not necessary to relocate somewhere else. However, in the recent years the safety of the United States has come into question, and critics have wondered if it is truly a safe environment for refugees to live.

Origins of the Safe Third Country Agreement

The concept of a Safe Third Country Agreement is to keep individuals from avoiding regular immigration laws . A person seeking asylum cannot leave one country that is counted as a “Safe Third Country” and flee to another because they are looking to improve their living conditions . This person can then be returned to this country they left because they are considered “safe” there . This idea ultimately began in Europe.

Safe Third Country Agreement in Canada and the United States

The Safe Third Country Agreement ultimately came to North America after the September 11th attacks as the two governments decided to come to a firm agreement on immigration policy. The agreement is strict in that if an individual attempts to enter one country from the other, they will immediately be sent back and no application will be considered. It is more common for Canada to see refugees coming from the United States than vice versa. America does receives more immigrants as a whole, but Canada receives forty-four times more applications of refugees coming from the United States to Canada, than the United States receives from Canada . It is important to note that there are some exceptions to this agreement. For example family re-unification purposes, children applicants, and claimants facing the death penalty.

Differences in Immigration Policies

The concept of what counts as “safe” is highly controversial. Both Canada and the United States recognize the other one as “safe” for refugees. However, the safety of the United States has now come in to question. This is partly due to the fact that there are some noticeable differences in immigration policies between the two countries. First, the United States has different standards than Canada for what a refugee is. Canada is much more lenient whereas the US rejects refugees more broadly. Another issue is that Canadian and American laws do not entirely match up. For example, the US rejects applicants who have been charged with aggravated crimes. Canadian law on this front is much more lenient as the range of crime one has committed is not seriously considered. The main problem with these differences is that a refugee who applies for asylum in the United States may be rejected, however if they had applied in Canada they would be more likely to get farther in the application process.

Some argue that Canada has done this on purpose. By being in this Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States they have positioned themselves to be able to do what they cannot directly do. That is they can go against their laws and social norms without directly making laws and political moves.

Dangers in the Designation of a "Safe" Country

With President Donald Trumps travel ban on Muslim majority countries last year, it makes it hard to argue that the Safe Third Country Agreement is completely fair anymore. People are increasingly turning to Canada for safety – many doing so in very unsafe ways. Some immigrants risk their lives by travelling through the deep Canadian winter so that they can claim asylum in Canada rather than in the US. From this perspective, the risk is worth it because they fear they will be turned away in the United States due to tighter immigration laws. Some refugees are scared to live in the United States due to negative attitudes towards them, pushing them to try to come to Canada. In fact there have been cases in which some people already settled and living in the United States have tried to seek asylum in Canada because they do not feel safe. Part of the reason may be because Canada has a very inclusive and integrated multiculturalism policy and a strong welfare system for immigrants.

"Safe" Countries Cause Discrimination

Canada attempted to create a system in which they would designate countries as being “safe” and others as being “unsafe”. Ultimately the courts struck this down and it could not go forward because it was argued that it is not fair to disadvantage citizens of certain countries and not give them the chance to come to Canada. In fact now it is more rare to actually designate “safe” countries – which was exactly what was done in the Safe Third Country Agreement.

Example of Unsafety

There are many examples of minority groups being discriminated against in America. With Donald Trumps recent travel ban on Muslim majority countries, this is a good example of how some minorities may not be "safe" in America anymore. Post-9/11, the event which caused the establishment of the Safe Third Country Agreement caused a change in the view of Muslims across America. A study found that 68% of Muslim respondents do not think their civil rights are protected in the United States. This study also revealed a large amount of Muslims received verbal hate speech attacks, often being called a terrorist amongst other defamatory phrases. Also often reported are discriminatory practices at work, at school, and when using everyday services. It is these types of occurences and practices that critics argue are reason for not considering America to be a safe space anymore.